NCAA Set to Act as Penn State Removes Statue

By

Eliot Brown

Updated July 22, 2012 7:25 p.m. ET

The NCAA plans to announce "corrective and punitive measures" Monday against Pennsylvania State University, the collegiate-sports organization said Sunday, as the school wrestles with the aftermath of a child-abuse scandal involving former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.

The notice by the NCAA came the same morning workers removed a seven-foot statue of the late head football coach Joe Paterno outside Penn State's Beaver Stadium. The 900-pound bronze art work came to be an "obstacle to healing," the university's president said.

ENLARGE

Penn State workers cover the statue of former football coach Joe Paterno on Sunday.
Associated Press

Washington Wire

The moves follow a report earlier this month from former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Louis Freeh and commissioned by trustees that found Mr. Paterno and other university officials didn't act on allegations of sexual abuse involving Mr. Sandusky, who was convicted in June on 45 counts related to abusing 10 boys over a 15-year period, starting in 1994. The Paterno family has said the report was flawed and presents an incomplete picture.

The NCAA began seeking information from the university related to the scandal in the fall. Past severe actions against programs have included shutting down a team's operations for at least a year—the so-called death penalty.

The organization's president, Mark Emmert, said on PBS last week the Penn State scandal was an "unprecedented problem" and that he wouldn't take any options off the table. "I've never seen anything as egregious as this in terms of just overall conduct and behavior inside a university," he said.

ENLARGE

The statue of former Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno stands outside Beaver Stadium last month.
Associated Press

Media reports emerged over the weekend that Penn State's sanctions could be worse than the death penalty. John Infante, a former compliance officer at two NCAA schools and an expert on the organization's disciplinary system, noted that the NCAA is a private, member-based organization and as such has wide latitude to mete out punishment.

"The NCAA is not required to hold to the due process we think of in the criminal-justice system," Mr. Infante said.

Rodney Erickson, who took over as Penn State's president after Graham Spanier was ousted in November, opted to remove the statue of Mr. Paterno—over the objections of many alumni—because it had become a "lightning rod of controversy," he said in a statement.

"Were it to remain, the statue will be a recurring wound to the multitude of individuals across the nation and beyond who have been the victims of child abuse," Mr. Erickson said.

Timeline: Sandusky on Trial

The statue, which depicts Mr. Paterno waving one extended finger in the air, stood outside Beaver Stadium since 2001. But recently it became a symbol of the larger debate over how the university would address the legacy of Mr. Paterno in light of the scandal. It was a delicate issue on a campus where, for decades, the coach was revered.

In a nod to that sentiment, Mr. Erickson opted not to change the name of the Paterno Library, named after the coach and his wife, saying it was a symbol of the "substantial and lasting contributions to the academic life and educational excellence" from the Paterno family.

Even before the statue was hauled away, talk of taking it down had prompted opposition from numerous alumni who have been supportive of Mr. Paterno and his legacy. "I am deeply saddened by the decision to remove the statue," said Anthony Lubrano, a trustee on Penn State's board who wanted the statue to stay. "He led with integrity and the highest character. His leadership is sorely missed."

The statue was removed early Sunday as workers clad the statue in protective cloth and hoisted it away after 7 a.m. The university hasn't said where the statue is being stored, only that it is in a secure location.

Mr. Paterno's family, in a statement, said removing the statue "does not serve the victims of Jerry Sandusky's horrible crimes or help heal the Penn State Community."

The statue was made by Italy-born sculptor, Angelo Di Maria, who said in an interview Sunday that he was disappointed the statue was removed, though he understood the university's decision.

"I felt pretty devastated," said Mr. Di Maria, who lives in Reading, Pa. "Every piece of work I do, there is a piece of my soul."

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